Apparatus for forming and annealing sneet glass



july 5, 1932. F, FRASER APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND ANNEAL'ING SHEET eLAss Filed Nov. 24. 1950 A 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \vww f o@emawwa@seauoeosooeooetoaeo July 5, 1932. F FRASER 1,865,894

APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND ANNEALNG SHEET GLASS Filed Nov. 24, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 2 @esteemed /Juiy 5, i932 srnrgesf oeeien FQ@ ERMENG LND Application med November Qn, w80., eriei flnfi.,

'mie presenl inveniion relates feo improve e cons-Lenin speed, endl. the io'w sneed roiis ere nienis in epperetns for' forming end nnnesiniweys driven en e, oonseni; slow speed so ing siiee; or plete glass. the/i, in order to eiieeiJ the desired change in Aoco-reime to iiie invention, e pinreiiiy of the or'nnroi sneed of irevei of the siiee', no successive seeis of giess are edejpted to ne change in ighesneed oi? roieiion of che inciiformed by en ineerniinient casting and roiividnei roiis is required.

ing operation. is desirebie, in order to ineiner objecis enfi advenmges of @ne ineen loreese production end improve the quality oi tion eeeorne' more eppereni during ine gioss sheets, the@ they be formed ai e course o ine 'oiiowing deseriniion when reiniiireiy high reis oi speed such es, for enteken eonneoiion with the eoornpenying @o ampie, in faire neigiiiiorhooi oii sin@ eei drawings.

per minnie, eiiiongii this speed may be iniin ehe drawings forming e peri oi ibis npereeseci or 'decrees-eci, es preferred. con piieeiion sind, wherein like nninereis ere em siderebie length of time is ordinarily reoloyed fno designe@ like ports ehroughons the quired io properiy ennee ine glass sheets so seme, @oA

niiet were the sheets carried entirely i. is e.. 'verioei iongiiuiiinei seeiion 'iierongii the enneeiing leer et. ine seme high ihronwii 'ine orweroi end' portion oi zippefeie of speed en which ihey ere formed, ii. reins provided by he present invenion,

Wiii Toe apparent that the ieer Wouid neces- Fig. siiniier View showing n continu seriiy neve io be of considerable iength. eeion oz? eine ennemies, mi

The object of `this invention, therefore, Fig. -i isepieii View of Fig. i

iesioies broadly in the provisonoieepperetns Fig. i is side elevation diseiosing eineA 'wherein the gess sheets may be formed et n nieens iior verieeiiy nfiius'iing certain of ine relatively high rete oi? speed enisuosequene sheet supper ng end conveying roiis,

iy onneeied whiie treveling ai, n sy eed reinm Fig.. is selotion -inken sniosieniieiiy on es iively iess than the rforming's ee the oriine omo of Fig. Ai, end were speed oi "irevei of the ,s eet being re-l Fig. f5 ie n side eievetion oft e poraion or die duoe suieseqjienffl io iis formation end prei niineniing ieer ehoning the for driv erebiy et the beginning oi' the nnneehng opf in eine sheet een-porting sind oonvegrine eoiis.

ereiion to @he en inet the epperetus herein 'ueierring no the drawings, nien is vere-z e@ provided will embody those advantages in in empioyeo. in the formation oi:` giess eiienia to `he rapid reduction of the molten sheets comprises e receiver or supper-4, iii upon gioss io sheet iorrn emi likewise inoseaclvenwhich is edepieci to be deposited e messoi 'neges which resliia from slower annealing oi molten giess 'il which is io "ne renceci no eine ,gloss such es, for esem ie, emeteriel resheen feiern. This mess o molten gnss 1s es duction in the iengih of eernecessary to prefereoiy snpriiie to the receiver i0 giro eriy enneei 'eine giess. when the snnie is in e substeniieiiy horiereioiore,vnrions schemes heile been p'rosontei position from si eniinoie por, or re' posed. for eeoing ine desiiec reduction in eeptnoie i2 within which eine mfiien gloss the speedi oi ioiWe-r irnvei oai the sheet. hns been preferably meitei end reiine. en However, in pisieiieniiy eii o einen schemes, einer in@ @ieee has 'been deposiizefi einen ine various iypee of nieeiinnisins 'were eseoeieied receiver, eine non is removeri i wie seiri iiie roiis the i'oiier eenveyors eti- @einer aiiieci npweirdiy to meinen :eeiing ineiesireei ehe-nge .in ine speed ineregiess to se primed to According to ine present invention, the sneei .forming rolls i3 anni .is ienieo. ivi-iii forward. speefi oi? irevei oie `the eiieei is ro oneens oi 'she ieeeirer end, "f" i 'ii ein one duceci in en easy end convenient niemeer eine?. another ico creete n einenJ fiori.. ing iiiere Without the use of complicated speed ehe-n between, through which tile inonen glass is ing ineciiensms. Thus, the nigh s pee roi s lmoved anni reduced?. io e. sheet i5 of suiosem of the roiler conveyor are always driven ai, *daily predetermined and uniform thickness'. lo@

An inclined apron or chute 16 may he positioned as shown to receive the glass sheet issuinf from between the formin rolls and to gui e and support the same uring its inclined downward travel.

- B the transfer or speed chan 'ng section, and

Cthe annealing section. T e receiving section A is composed of a plurality of horizontally aligned rolls 22 ada ted to be driven v at a constant relativel hig speed in any desired manner such as i associating with one end of each roll a sproc et 23, and in training about all of these sprockets a single s rocket chain 23 driven from a motor 24 t rough reduction gearing 25. The transfer section B is composed of a lurality of constant low speed rolls 26 (driven at annealing speed) and a plurality of idler rolls 27, the low speed rolls and idler rolls being arranged alternately with respect to one another, as shown. The annealing section C of the leer is composed of'a plurality of low speed rolls 28 driven at a constant slow annealing speed from a motor 29 through suitable reduction gearing 30 and a chain and sprocket drive, the sprockets 59 being associated with the rolls, and the sprocket'chain 31 being trained thereabout.

In accordance with the present invention, the low v rolls 26 and the idler rolls 27 respective y are adjustably mounted so that 'they may be moved vertically y gitudin -of a relative to one eet su porting dii. ted to another into and out of s position, said sets of rollsbein a provide for a change in the spee of orward travel of the glass sheet from its relatively high forming speed to its relatively slower annealing speed. To this end, the low speed rolls 26 are journaled at their opposite ends in 32 and 33 mounted upon the lony extending supporting members 3 4 and 85, each roll carryin at one end thererocket 36v about w 'ch sprockets is train a sprocketchain 37 driven, as here shown, from the motor 29 through a sprocket chain `38. p sprocket chain 38 is trained about a sprocket carried by shaft 61 and also about a sprocket 62 keyed to the first adjacent low s roll 26 outwardly of the sprocket 36. r1 mounted upon shaft 61 is a relatively large sprocket 63l about which the sprocket chain 31, driving rolls 28, is

trained, this sprocket chain being driven as P pointed out above from the motor 29 through suitable reducing earing 30. 'In order to maintain the sproc et chain 38 tight during raising and lowerin of the low speed rolls 26, there is provid a chain tightener tonaistmg, as here shown, of a sprocket 64 en-l Lacasse gaging the lower inclined run of chain 38,' said sprocket 64 being carried by a bracket secured to the side Wall of the annealing leer. In Fig. 6 the low speed rolls 26 are shown in their elevated or raised position at which time the sprocket chain 38 is maintained tight Without the aid of chain tightener 64. Upon lowerin of the rolls 26, any slack occurring in the c ain 38 will -be taken up by the tightening sprocket 64. Of course, no such tightening or compensating means is y necessary for the sprocket chain 37 inasmuch as this chain simply moves bodily up and down with the rolls 26. The idler rolls 27 are freely journaled at their opposite ends in bearin s 39 and 40 mounted upon the longitudina ly extending supporting members 41 and 42 respectively.

Any preferred means may be provided for raisin and lowering the low speed' rolls 26 and i ler rolls 27, one conventional wa in which this might be accomplished being i lustrated articularly in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus, each o? the sup orting members 34 and 35 for the low s ee rolls 26 has pivoted thereto adjacent its ront and rear ends a depending link 43 pivotally connected with the transverse pin 44 to which is also pivotally connected a link 45 pivoted at its lower end to a fixed block 46. Likewise, there is pivoted at each end of each of thesupporting members 41 and 42 for the idler rolls 27 a link 47 pivotally connected a also pivotally connected a, link 49 pivoted at its lower end to a stationary block 50.

Extendin between and connectin vthe pairs of li s 43-45 and 47-49 at eac vend of the longitudinally extending supporting members is a connectin rod 51, while a connecting rod 52 is provi ed for connecting the pins 48 at the opposite ends of the supportmg members. Pivotally associated with the pin 44 at each side of the leer is a pitman 53 pivoted as at 54 to an eccentric 55, said eccentric carrying a worm gear 56 meshing with and driven from a worm 57 carried by drive shaft 58. The pairs of links 43-45 and 47--49 are so associated with one another, as indicated in Fig. 4 that, upon rotation of eccentric 55, one pair of links will be folded or, in other words, moved toward one'another, while the opposite pair will be extended or moved to a vertical position, dependent upon the direction of rotation of said eccentric. In this manner, it will be apparent that upon rotation of the eccentric 1n the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the low speed rolls 26 will be raised into sheet suporting position and the idler rolls 27 lowered out of sheet contacting position and that, when the-eccentric is rotated in the reverse direction, the low` speed rolls will kbe lowered and the idler rolls raised.v

In carryingout the resent invention, the idler rolls 2.7 of trans er section B are first pin 48 to which is raised to the same level as the rolls 22 of receiving section A. The glass sheet is preferably formed at a relatively high rate of speed such as, for example, in the neighborhood of sixty feet per minute and is annealed While travellng at a much slower speed which may be, for example, approximately five feet per minute. However, these speeds are given merely to illustrate -the operation of the invention and other relative speeds may be used. 1n forming the sheet, a mass of molten glass 11 is first deposited upon receiver 10 and then passed between the forming rolls 13 and 14 and reduced to sheet form, the.

sheet 15 being carried forwardly into the leer 21 and upon rolls 22. The rolls 22 are driven at a high rate of speed to carry the sheet forwardly at its speed of formation until it has become substantially set, after which the sheet passes from the said rolls 22 onto the elevated yidler rolls 27 of transfer section B. As the sheet runs onto the idler rolls, it will be gradually slowed down and, after being preferably brought to a complete stop, the slow speed rolls 26 are raised and the idler rolls 27 lowered so las to transfer the sheet from the idler rolls to the low speed rolls. The low speed rolls 26 will then function to carry the sheet forwardly and deliver it onto the low speed rolls 28 which carry it through the leer at annealing speed. It will, of course, be understood thatthe rolls 26 of transfer section B are driven at a speed equal to the speed of rolls 28.

Although the sheet is preferably brought to a complete stop before being shifted from the idler rolls 27 onto the low speed rolls 26, it will be appreciated that the transfer of the sheet from the idler rolls to the low speed rolls can be effected as soon as the speed of forward travel of the sheet has been reduced to approximately annealing speed. From the above, it will be apparent that the high speed rolls 22 are always driven at a constant high speed substantially equal to the speed of formation o f the sheet and-that the low speed rolls 26 and 28 are always driven at a relatively slow annealing speed. Consequently, the forwardly movin sheet may be reduced from its relatively igh forming speed to a relatively slower annealing speed easily and conveniently and without the use of any complicated speed changing mechanism, since it is at no time necessary to vary the speed of rotation of the high and low speed rolls.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention, herewith shown and described is to be taken asthe preferred embodiment of thel same', and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjomed claims.

I claim:

' 1. 'In sheet glass apparatus, an annealing leer, and conveying means vfor receiving a newly formed sheet thereupon and carrying it into and through means embodying a receivin section, an annealinosection, and a trans er section interposed etween said receiving and annealing sections and including two sets of rolls with the rolls of one set being arranged alternately with the rolls of the other set, means for positively driving one set of rolls at a relatively slow speed, the rolls of the other set being idler rolls, and means for moving one set of rolls vertically relative to the other set.

2.. In sheet glass apparatus, an annealing leer, and conveying means for receiving Ia newly formed sheet thereupon and carrylng it into and through said leer, said conveying means embodying a receiving section, means for driving said section at a constant relatively high rate of speed, an annealing section, means for driving said annealing section at a yconstant relatively slow speed, and a transfer section interposed between said receiving and annealing sections and including two sets of rolls with the rolls of one set being arranged alternately withthe rolls of the other set, means for positively driving one set of rolls at a relatively slow speed substantially equal to the 'speed of said annealing section, the rolls of the other set being idler rolls, and means for moving one set of rolls vertically relative to the other set.

3. In sheet glass apparatus, an annealing leer, and conveying means for, receiving a newly formed sheet thereupon and carrying it into and through said leer, said conveying means embodying a receiving section, an annealing section, and a transfer section interposed between said receiving and annealing sections and including two sets of rolls with the rolls of one set being arranged alternately with the rolls of the other-set, means for positively driving one set of rolls at a relatively slow speed, the rolls of the other set being idler rolls, and means for moving said sets of rolls vertically relative to one another ina manner that the idler rolls are first brought into position to receive the sheet from the receiving section, after which said sheet is transferred from the idler rolls onto the low speed rolls and delivered thereby onto said annealing section.

4. In sheet glass apparatus, an annealing said leer, said conveying leer, and conve ing means for receiving a at a constant relatively slowspeed, and a y transfer lsection interposed betwen said' receivlng and annealing sections and including two sets of rolls with the rolls of one set being arranged alternately with the rolls of the other set, means for positively driving one set of rolls at a relatively slow speed substantially equal to the s ed of said annealing section, `the rolls of t e other set being idler rolls means for moving one set of rolls vertically relative to the other set, and means -for moving said sets of rolls vertically relative to one another in a manner that the idler rolls are first brought into position to receive the sheet from the receiving section, after which said sheet is transferred from the idler rolls onto the low speed rolls and delivered thereby onto said annealing section.

5. In a sheet glass apparatus, a conveyor for receiving a newly formed sheet thereupon at a relatively high rate of speed and deliver ing it therefrom at a relatively slower speed,

including two sets of rolls with the rolls of v one set being arranged alternately with the `rolls 'of the other set, means for positively driving one set of rolls at a relatively slow speed, the rolls of the other set being idler rolls which are adapted to receive the sheet thereupon at a relatively high speed, and means for moving one set o'f rolls vertically relative to the other set in a manner to trans- Afer the sheet from the idler rolls onto the driven rolls.

Signed at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, this 21st day of November,

FRANK FRASER.

Leeaeee 

